One of the country's largest Indigenous legal services has called on the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments to urgently fix glaring inequities and failures in emergency response across the Big Rivers region, which is home to 23 Aboriginal communities centred on Katherine.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Katherine experienced its worst flooding since 1998 after more than 100 millimetres of rain fell overnight in the region. The Katherine River levee was topped by floodwaters that submerged the main street and entered shops and surrounding homes, with the river peaking at 19.2 metres late on Saturday. Flooding continued south of Adelaide River, including in the towns of Daly River and Palumpa, both of which have been evacuated, while floodwaters threatened the community of Beswick.
In a letter to Commonwealth and NT politicians including Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro and Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy, North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) chief executive Ben Grimes said the organisation was concerned that a different approach has been taken in Katherine compared to other Aboriginal communities seriously affected by the floods.
The distinction is stark. Residents within the Katherine Town Council area can access support through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangement (DRFA), while families from communities including Wugularr, Jilkminggan, Daly River and Palumpa are displaced and struggling but it is unclear when or how they will receive the same emergency payments and assistance. While arrangements have been made to reopen food supply lines in Katherine, NAAJA is concerned regarding a lack of supplies and supports available for clients in remote communities.
Around 200 members of the flood-hit Aboriginal community of Palumpa were evacuated by fixed-wing aircraft to a Darwin stadium on Saturday, while hundreds of residents from Daly River who had been bussed to emergency accommodation at a Darwin showgrounds pavilion in early February were this time flown out by helicopter. Crocodiles below the surface remain an ongoing concern, along with shortages of supplies and fresh water.
Public health officials issued boil-water advisories for communities including Katherine, Wugularr (Beswick), Tindal, Palumpa and Nauiyu, with residents instructed to use boiled or bottled water for drinking, food preparation and brushing teeth due to possible contamination of water systems.
The pattern of repeated evacuations in recent weeks raises questions about preparedness and co-ordination in emergency response. Major flooding was expected at Daly River where the community had only recently returned after being evacuated due to flooding. This suggests systemic vulnerabilities in how remote communities access recovery support after displacement.
The government will face mounting pressure to demonstrate that emergency assistance reaches all flood-affected communities equitably, not just major towns. NAAJA has called for urgent fixes to what it describes as glaring inequities and failures in the emergency response. How quickly and effectively officials can close these gaps will test whether disaster response frameworks treat all Australians fairly.